If Tottenham Hotspur emerge from Villa Park with three points this afternoon, Ange Postecoglou's side will move within two points of fourth-placed Aston Villa with a game in hand.
Defeat in the Midlands, though it need not be said, could be detrimental. Tottenham fell by the wayside last season but have been back with a vengeance under Postecoglou's management in the Premier League, and while there is much work still to do, there is enough quality to prevail against Villa.
Spurs team news vs Aston Villa
Richarlison suffered a knee injury during the defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers three weeks ago and is still sidelined for the foreseeable, though he will hopefully return before the end of the month.
Ryan Sessegnon and Manor Solomon's wretched campaigns continue as they remain sidelined, but that aside, there are no fresh concerns to hamper the chances of success, with Pedro Porro's expected return to the starting lineup after a muscular problem a massive boost.
The Spanish right-back has been immense this season – he is Tottenham's joint-top assist maker and the club's most frequent tackler in the Premier League – and his ability to find success across every department of the field will be pivotal to coming out on top against Unai Emery's outfit.
Why Timo Werner could terrorise Matty Cash
He started last week, but Postecoglou simply has to field Timo Werner from the outset once again this afternoon to combat the fluency and snap of his impressive Aston Villa team.
Signing from RB Leipzig on loan in January, the Germany international has scored one goal and added two assists across five Premier League displays so far, with his first strike coming last time out against Crystal Palace, restoring parity after 77 minutes to commence a late flurry, turning the tide and keeping on the heels of Aston Villa.
Matches played
6
Starts
5
Goals
1
Assists
2
Pass completion
86%
Key passes per game
1.3
Ball recoveries per game
3.0
Dribbles per game
1.2
Brennan Johnson supplied two assists for his teammates – including Werner – last weekend, and while the Wales international has pace and dribbling skills to rival the Spurs loanee, it is indeed the German who must be handed the starting berth.
Fleet-footed and direct, Werner has been praised for his "lightning quick" pace by pundit Paul Merson and naturally a better goalscorer on the left given his right-footedness.
To evidence this, the 27-year-old ranks among the top 9% of positional peers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for progressive carries and the top 2% for successful take-ons per 90, as per FBref.
It's for this reason that Postecoglou must keep him in the starting lineup to subdue the dynamic threat of Villans right-back Matty Cash, who has scored four goals in 2023/24 and been dubbed a "terrific talent" by pundit Danny Murphy.
However, the Poland international only averages 0.4 dribbles and 3.9 successful duels per game in the Premier League this season, and might find it difficult to contain the electric threat of Werner, who has demonstrated his creativity but can also weave inside to fire on goal and drag defenders away from talisman Son Heung-min.
There will be many battles that could shape the narrative at Villa Park this afternoon, and while Werner plies his trade out wide, overcoming the industriousness of Cash might just be a big way to wedge open a chink in the hosts' armour.
